Please help! High uric acid levels & infection

Status
Not open for further replies.
Hi everyone I originally posted under health but now I really need help! Here's the link to the original post to catch up

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=234311&start=15

Just got back the blood work results from the Vet and here they are.
87863-7355566961.jpg
87863-5373972664.jpg
87863-3779476807.jpg

My local vet said she has kidney failure and probably a bad infection with a poor prognosis... He referred me to a exotic specialist and I made an appointment to see her on Thursday, my vet got me really worried and said she's really sick but honestly she doesn't seem THAT sick where she's dying... But he sure made me feel like she is... She's still very alert, she's drinking lots of water and eating her ox bow carnivore care from the syringe, we just started blending up her greens and mixing it with the carnivore care and she's eating it. only thing noticable is her lethargy, She's also going through a full body shed at the moment, I asked the vet about gout and treatment but he said he rather me see the specialist and wait for her suggestions...

Can anyone give me an idea of how severe her results Are? Is she really that sick right now where she might not be able to be helped? What type of course and what options do we have ? I just want to have more info and be prepared to choose a treatment option on Thursday when we see the specialist. Anyone have experience with this? I'm worried sick and super scared now :(
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
I would ask the specialist about the blood glucose levels, those seem a bit high. Offering lots of extra water via drops on her nose may help reduce the blood urea nitrogen levels a bit and ease pressure on her kidneys. White blood cell count looks normal so that's a good sign that she isn't likely fighting an infection. That's my amateur interpretation of the results which I don't completely understand. Just worth asking about glucose and BUN levels that's all. Sometimes the levels can be distorted by stress of the visit and having the blood drawn so it can make sense to try again in a few weeks after increasing hydration levels to see if you get similar results or not.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
The uric acid levels are quite high, but no need for the vet to say there's no hope. It's good that she is eating the mixture and VERY good that you've added the greens. he needs more greens than protein in her condition, and good that she's drinking water. I don't know if the extra hydration + greens can lower the UA levels substantially, but Tracie may have some helpful insight as Cooper said.
 

Ripley1015

Member
Original Poster
Thanks for all the input! She seems more alert each day probably because of the nutrition, she's moving around more but still not back to normal, I've PMed Tracie and awaiting a response from her, our specialist appointment is on Thursday
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello Stephanie,

I am sorry for the delay. I read through your post in its' entirety.
I have experience with gout & if found early it is very treatable. That is the operative word, If found early & treated which most times is missed.
I tried to find any signs of eggs in the x-rays you posted but didn't. As suggested, there are a lot of times in which the eggs just wont show up or are not shelled which would be soft tissue & wouldn't show up. Since the new x-rays still didn't reveal eggs, I do believe she did have developing follicles before which were not detected. She never shelled them but absorbed them. There is an enormous amount of fat, cholesterol, protein, etc that goes into follicles. When they reabsorb them their livers are severely taxed in having to break down all of those substances causing the levels in the blood to increase on the readings.
The albumin is a little high but not bad. The glucose is within range but on the upper level. That should come down on its own.
The calcium is very high, maybe due to the body reabsorbing everything but I see no evidence of bone issues right now. The calcium levels increase when they are developing eggs, so hopefully that will go down on its own, too.
The AST levels are a little high most likely due to reabsorbing eggs. When this happens, it also causes stress to the renal system by throwing the protein levels out of whack. They can develop gout like this. Her monocytes are a bit off but overall I don't see a huge infection. I absolutely do not think at the moment, she needs to have any antibiotics with her kidneys in this condition!
The hematocrit levels are high which also can indicate issues with eggs, etc.
I am hoping it is pseudo gout instead of visceral gout which is full blown gout. At 33mg/dl for the uric acid, that is usually referred to as renal failure. Pseudo gout is basically gout brought on or caused by nutritional issues & is completely reversible.
However, since it has come out fairly quickly, I highly recommend an aggressive treatment immediately of 20mg/kg dosed, of allopurinol, along with an initial saline injection of fluids to help boost her kidneys.
The greens slurries, critical care, black cherry or tart cherry juice will all help. Try getting some alfalfa meal too, it is purine free & helps in reducing uric acid. For now, I would cut all of the roaches out & go with mostly phoenix worms, silkworms or hornworms.

Let us know how Ripley is doing.

Tracie
 

Ripley1015

Member
Original Poster
update: So we saw the exotics specialist today, they did an ultrasound and saw 4 small oddly shaped follicles so they believe she reabsorbed her follicles like you guys mentioned, they also said that her lab values can be off due to dehydration since she was not eating or drinking for awhile. I asked about allopurinol but the vet doesn't think she has gout, they didn't see any evidence of gout on the ultrasound, they are not sure why she isn't using her back legs as much, could be due to something with her kidneys but they wouldn't be able to tell unless we got a CT scan.

So they gave her some Fluid injection at the office and sent me home with an IV bag to inject her with 3mL lactated ringers twice a day for 10 days and then repeat blood work. If it is due to dehydration her levels should return to normal. If her uric acid levels are still elevated then they recommend the CT scan to get a better look at all her organs. They also drew some blood to test her uric acid levels today to compare to her blood work from saturday. They recommended me to stop the oxbow carnivore and to just keep her on a veggie diet for now and continue with the baths, and syringe feeding her water & veggies. Besides her lab results they think she looks great, no problems in her joints, she reacts when you pull on her legs, she does get up and walk, she's very alert, her bones look great, they didn't see any swelling in her extremities.

So hopefully it was just a dehydration thing, we will see what happens in 10 days! Thank you everyone for all your input and sharing your knowledge and experience, don't know what I would do without this forum! Ripley is looking better each day thank you everyone! I will keep updating when i find more info.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Well, ok! I am glad that you got the information from the vet. Poor girl!
Severe dehydration, lack of appetite, etc will definitely cause imbalances & dehydration.
When reabsorbing eggs, it definitely taxes their systems.
Maybe get some black cherry juice to help with her kidney function right now, if they aren't
going to put her on allopurinol. I hope the levels come down quickly.
A baby food diet is perfectly fine, it should help out a lot.
Let us know how she is doing!

Tracie
 

Ripley1015

Member
Original Poster
just got a call from the vet with the results from the blood they drew yesterday, Her Uric acid levels have gone higher from 33 on saturday to 44.5 now, the vet said she now wants to start allopurinol just in case it is gout, She is putting the prescription in and will have it mailed to me.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Wow, that is very high!
They didn't place her on antibiotics did they? If so, I highly recommend taking her off of any antibiotics because they will make her worse.
I agree, they should have already had her on the allopurinol, but, I am glad that they are sending it to you now. I hope you get it fast, because she needs it!
Keep us posted on her.

Tracie
 

Ripley1015

Member
Original Poster
Hello everyone, so It's been 2 months and I just wanted to give an update on Ripley. She is basically back to her normal self and after 2 Allopurinol dose adjustments she seems to be doing pretty well. She is now taking allopurinol 0.4ML/day. She's eating her greens and we did start reintroducing protein back into her diet only twice a week.On her last follow up with the exotics specialist her uric acid levels were trending down but still high. Her next appointment is in October to get another set of blood work to see where we are at. But overall the last 2 months she seemed well.

Now I'm starting to feel concerned and stressed again because starting yesterday she started exhibiting those behaviors again that indicates she might have eggs!!! She started flipping her enclosure upside down and is glass dancing and leaving little poops around her tank again. This is exactly what happened 4 months ago right before she got very sick. The vet suspected because she reabsorbed her follicles- it sent her into gout because of the excess protein and calcium from the eggs. Now I'm so worried that it will happen again right when she was doing so well, I hope this doesn't set her back. I still have the lay box and will put her in everyday to encourage her to lay the eggs instead of reabsorbing them. Any tips or advice on this situation? any one ever had this happen before??
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

That's great Ripley has been doing well & has gotten back to her normal self.
I completely agree on why her uric acid levels climbed as they did. It's very hard on their
body to absorb the follicles. It really throws a lot of things out of balance.
There really isn't anything you can do to keep them from laying, if they are developing the
follicles. Sometimes, if they continually lay, hormones can be given to try & suppress the
process but it isn't always successful. Maybe try some crushed raspberry leave in with food
daily. Caffeine free too, of course. This herb may help balance out hormones.
Definitely go ahead & get the laybox ready, since she is starting to exhibit egg laying behavior.
Hopefully she will lay instead of reabsorbing them. Luckily, I haven't had any trouble with this
before, but I know a few here on the forum have.

Let us know how she is doing!

Tracie
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hopefully she's not full of eggs, but having the lay box available is a good idea. Just put her in once, maybe twice a day for a half hour/hour at most. Keep in mind that beardies usually don't get very restless + digging while carrying follicles but that behavior usually happens when the eggs are shelled [ at that state they can't be reabsorbed ] and the beardie is ready to lay. So if she actually has shelled eggs that may be the reason for her behavior, otherwise it' may be something else. Hormones can def. play a part, restlessness driven by the mating urge. And just not feeling herself can cause the behavior.

Hopefully she gets through this phase with no real complications.....it is good to hear that she's doing better to an extent. :)
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Let us know how things are coming along with Ripley! I hope she wont have any trouble
this time. :D

Tracie
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Members online

No members online now.

Still Needs Help

Latest resources

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

I miss you so much, Amaris 💔
What is a quick way to warm up a cold beardie? His heating element went out overnight and now he's very cold.
Pearl Girl wrote on moorelori1966's profile.
i feel so sad reading your about me 😢
Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank

Forum statistics

Threads
155,897
Messages
1,255,656
Members
75,965
Latest member
williamyoung
Top Bottom